Daguerre helps lifts Lady Gens over Saints

Cutline: Amherst guard Kayla Daguerre (white) looks for an open lane before driving towards the basket.

By Joel Charron

General Amherst Lady Gens head coach Dom Silvaggio has been telling Kayla Daguerre to shoot the ball all season.

The Grade 11 guard picked a heck of a time to take her coach’s advice.

Daguerre scored a team high 15 points, including the Lady Gens’ final seven points for a 47-42 come from behind win against a talented St. Anne Saints squad last Thursday night at the Amherst gymnasium.

“Today’s game was all about Kayla,” said Silvaggio. “She stepped up in the last four minutes. She hit some really big shots today.”

Daguerre drained three shots from beyond the arc in the final frame including a three pointer to give the Lady Gens a 43-42 lead with 2:31 left to play.

The Lady Gens had a rough time getting to the fourth quarter. After Amherst built a quick 7-0 lead in the opening quarter, the Saints battled back to take a 13-11 at the end of one.

St. Anne’s carried that momentum into the second quarter. Using pressure defense, St. Anne held Amherst to six points and led 24-17 at halftime.

The third quarter looked much of the same with the Saints holding on to a 37-31 advantage, however Amherst exploded in the fourth quarter for 16 points while holding St. Anne to five points.

After Amherst shot a combined 1-13 from the charity stripe, Daguerre drained their last four free throws to seal the win.

Silvaggio said he was upset with the Lady Gens’ play after the first half.

“We wasted three timeouts because they’re not doing what we practiced,” he said. “We were prepared for their pressure defense but they have to learn to back off a bit and get themselves under control.”

Silvaggio also noted Jaylin VandeBovenkamp and Sydney Emerson’s work on the defensive boards were also a big reason the Lady Gens were able to claw back.

“The first half was non-existent. The second half Jaylin and Sydney did a great job controlling the boards,” he said.

Silvaggio praised Daguerre for “finally” shooting the ball.

“I’ve told her three times to start looking to shoot,” he joked. “Hopefully this will kick her out of her shell because she can shoot.”

Daguerre said getting the fast break going and communication on the court was the key to their fourth quarter comeback.

“Once we got settled on offense things just came smoothly for us,” said Daguerre. “We got more balls down to Jaylin and used her size. We just played smarter.”

The young guard joked when her game winning three was half way in the air, she knew it was going it.

“When it got about halfway I was like… yeah, I got this,” she said.

With Amherst losing earlier in the week to Villanova, Daguerre called this a statement win.

“Beating one of the best teams in the league is always a great feeling,” she said. “I feel like we made a statement tonight.”

Daguerre finished with 15 points and Aleah Marton and VandeBovenkamp pitched in with 11 points each.